Chesapeake Bay ends summer 2016 with a bit too much oxygen

It got worse and then it got better. Eyes on the Bay, a division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, says the oxygen level on the Chesapeake Bay was unusually high at the end of summer — that’s bad for fish. However, levels were down 5 percent overall for the season.

This animated map shows how the oxygen levels started unusually low at the start of summer and ended abnormally high.

The main culprit for the higher-than-average oxygen level appears to be the late summer heat wave that went on-and-on. High oxygen levels cause “dead zones” and kill fish. Here’s the full Hypoxia Report.